This invention relates to a heating means and, more particularly, to a uniquely positioned and structured heater module for supplying heat energy to the hot volume of a Vuilleumier cycle cryogenic refrigerator, or to a Stirling cycle heat engine.
Vuilleumier cycle cryogenic refrigerators, and Stirling cycle heat engines, require heat input to the working fluid (which usually is a gas, such as helium) at or near the hot volume of the machine. The Vuilleumier cycle refrigerator, and the Stirling cycle engine, are closed cycle machines, i.e., the working fluid is contained, and there is no mass flow into or out of the machine. Because of this, all heat energy into or out of these machines must be accomplished by heat exchangers. The heat exchangers are typically located on the exterior surfaces of the machine, with a portion of the heat energy being wasted by heating insulation and/or chamber walls tha are not part of the machine itself.
Our invention places the heating element (or, the heating surface, as the case may be) within the working fluid, and allows the fluid to surround the heating element (or surface) for optimum heat energy transfer.
By our invention we have significantly advanced the state-of-the-art.